VZCZCXRO5206
OO RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0736/01 1611128
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 101128Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3924
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000736 
 
DEPT FOR SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF A/S CARSON, AF/C 
NSC FOR MGAVIN 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL SOCI ASEC KPKO AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: DARFUR HUMAN RIGHTS UPDATE: AS GENDER BASED VIOLENCE 
INCREASES, NISS TARGETS OUTSPOKEN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS 
 
REF: A) KHARTOUM 553 
B) KHARTOUM 697 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Rape and gender-based violence (GBV) have 
increased in Darfur according to UN agencies and NGOs.  Following 
the March 4-5 expulsion of 13 international NGOs, no mechanism 
exists to monitor such crimes in internally displaced persons (IDP) 
camps and rural areas. The increase in these violent acts against 
women is not due to conflict in Darfur (which has largely subsided), 
but rather to the increased incidence of such crimes between IDPs in 
IDP camps.  Forced, female genital mutilation (FMG) is also on the 
rise.  Fear and social stigma continue to keep Darfuris from 
reporting rape, GBV and FMG.  No reliable statistics exist on the 
incidence of rape, with existing laws to punish perpetrators often 
unenforced.  Darfuris associated with the recently-shuttered 
Sudanese NGOs the Darfur Bar Association and Sudan Development 
Organization (SUDO) were detained by NISS in April and May, with 
authorities questioning them at length over their connections to the 
ICC.  Ahmed Mudawi, director of SUDO, is cautiously optimistic that 
the organization may be able to keep operating in Sudan. End 
summary. 
 
----------------------------- 
GBV, FGM INCREASING IN DARFUR 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) UN agencies and NGOs in Darfur believe that the incidence 
of rape and GBV is increasing in Darfur.   Meeting with Codel 
Isakson on May 26 in El Fasher, Gregory (Gromo) Alexander, head of 
UN-OCHA in Darfur, said that the March expulsion of the 13 
international NGOs left gaps in rural areas where NGOs such as Oxfam 
and IRC had previously operated programs and projects that 
specifically dealt with these issues.  Although the GOS pledged to 
fill the gaps with their "Sudanization" program of humanitarian 
assistance in Darfur, Alexander and representatives from UNICEF, 
UNFPA and UNAMID Human Rights doubt that gaps in protection and GBV 
reporting will be assumed by national NGO partners or government 
ministries.  Furthermore, IDP populations would not report such 
incidents to these groups, as little trust exists between the GOS 
and the IDPs. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Asked specifically about the issue of rape in Darfur, UN 
representatives responded, "Everyone is raping."  As a result of the 
earlier conflict and population shifts, societal norms and 
traditional ties among generations have broken down, and now rape is 
occurring both within and between differing Darfuri tribes. 
UN-OCHA's Alexander said that it is difficult to ascertain exactly 
what percentage of IDPs have been raped - due to underreporting - 
but estimated that for every five reported cases of rape, the UN 
suspects at least five other cases go unreported.  Social stigma and 
fear often keep victims from reporting rape.  Moreover, Sudanese 
authorities sometimes reverse rape charges to charge the victim with 
adultery.  Given the sensitive nature of the topic, NGOs operating 
in Darfur are wary of sharing the information with the UN, and both 
sides had to sign a memorandum of understanding before any NGOs 
would provide statistics on rape and GBV. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Those victims that have turned to law enforcement agencies 
and the criminal justice system have found them ineffective as legal 
avenues.  Legislation from 2008 criminalizes rape, but UN agencies 
claim it is poorly enforced, and rape cases in Darfur are often 
reported only when the crime crosses tribal boundaries.  GOS 
authorities recently convicted two soldiers for the rape of underage 
girls, and they received the maximum for the crime - ten years in 
prison.  According to the international specialists with whom CODEL 
Isakson spoke, this conviction was the exception rather than the 
norm.   Within IDP camps, social customs and processes exist to 
address rape cases informally, including payments to the aggrieved 
families and forced marriage of the girl to her rapist.  UN agencies 
noted that FGM is also on the rise in the IDP camps in Darfur, 
presumably as a way for IDPs to gain social status.  Female genital 
mutilation (FGM) is still technically legal in Sudan.  However, the 
Council of Ministers issued an edict outlawing the practice in 2008, 
only to be quickly overruled by senior Islamic authorities.   FMG 
previously was practiced mostly by the Zaghawa tribe, but now has 
become common as well among Fur IDPs. 
 
------------------------------------ 
NISS PURSUES PERCIEVED ICC INFORMERS 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) In April and May, agents from the National Intelligence and 
Security Service (NISS) arrested and questioned at length members of 
the independent Darfur Bar Association(DBA) about their alleged 
 
KHARTOUM 00000736  002 OF 002 
 
 
association with the International Criminal Court (ICC).  Abu Talib 
Imam, the leading member of the DBA in El Geneina, West Darfur, was 
arrested in April and flown by NISS to Khartoum for intense on his 
role as a Sudanese Development Organization (SUDO) employee charged 
with disclosing information to the international community about 
crimes in Darfur.  Imam, who currently is living in hiding in 
Khartoum, met briefly with NISS Director Salah Ghosh prior to his 
release, and Ghosh told him to stay in Sudan pending charges of 
crimes against the state.  Osman Abelmawla, the leading member of 
the DBA from Nyala, South Darfur, has since fled to Uganda after 
being held by NISS during April 16-22.  Speaking with poloff by 
telephone, Abelmawla said that authorities in Nyala questioned him 
at length about trips abroad to discover if he had turned over 
evidence to the ICC regarding actions by the Khartoum regime in 
Darfur.  While admitting that he had participated in the 2004 UN 
Mission of Inquiry while employed by SUDO, he declined to disclose 
any other contact with international organizations. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The UNAMID Human Rights Office in El Fasher reported on May 
28 that Adam Yahia Daw Al-Beit, an Umda (traditional leader) in Abu 
Shouk IDP camp, was released by Sudanese authorities after ten days 
in detention.  (Note: UNAMID pursued the case at the suggestion of 
Post. End note.)  NISS officials in El Fasher informed UNAMID that 
Yahia had been arrested for "pursuing a rebel agenda" in the camp, 
including having links to the Sudanese Liberation Army/Abdul Wahid. 
The chief prosecutor in El Fasher informed UNAMID that Yahia had 
been arrested under the National Security Forces Act, and could be 
held indefinitely without charges.  Following his release after ten 
days in custody, Yahia reported that he had been treated well. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Yahia disputed the official version of why he had been 
detained.  He said the reason for his arrest was his talk with 
Senator John Kerry during the latter's visit to El Fasher on April 
17 (ref A).  Yahia said his interrogators asked why he had 
criticized the Wali of North Darfur as well as GOS policy in Darfur. 
 During Yahia's detention, several key IDP leaders in El Fasher were 
reluctant to meet with Codel Isakson (ref B) fearing they too might 
be arrested.  The leaders ultimately agreed to meet with Senators 
Isakson and Corker at a U.S. embassy rented house in El Fasher 
rather than in an IDP camp.  No one was arrested as a result of the 
meeting. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Ahmed Mudawi, founder of SUDO, told polchief on May 29 that 
Sudanese authorities and the Humanitarian Affairs Commission (HAC) 
may not be able to fully dissolve his NGO, but they have not yet 
permitted Mudawi to reopen SUDO.  (Note: The Government dissolved 
SUDO at the same time that it expelled the 13 international NGOs, 
allegedly for providing information to the ICC. End note.)  One of 
the three independent Sudanese NGOs shuttered by the government on 
March 5, SUDO operated with a large staff in northern Sudan and 
Darfur as an implementing partner of numerous international NGOs. 
According to Mudawi, representatives from HAC have missed two court 
dates to contest the organization's attempt to regain its assets and 
renew permission to operate in Sudan.  Should they miss a third 
scheduled court appearance, Mudawi predicted that the Sudanese 
justice in charge of the proceeding will dismiss HAC's case and rule 
in favor of SUDO, allowing the NGO to restart limited administrative 
operations this year. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Comment:  The expulsion of INGOs and the crackdown on local 
NGOs has had a chilling effect on the willingness of victims of GBV, 
rape, and FGM to report these incidents, as well as on the 
documentation and reporting when they do occur.  Some expelled NGOs 
provided medical support and legal assistance to rape and GBV 
victims.  Remaining NGOs are nervous about the possible fallout if 
they take up such work.  Recent NISS allegations that local NGOs 
provided information to the ICC on sexual violence against women may 
have a similar effect on the willingness of local activists to carry 
out GBV and related programs. 
 
WHITEHEAD